‘White hat’ security consultant, Vinny Troia, had his Coinbase account suspended for breaching US regulations by paying cyber-ransoms, amidst growing concerns that US anti-money laundering legislation needs to be updated for the cryptocurrency era.

Owning and operating a money transmitter service in the U.S. is “illegal” unless it is registered with State agencies. Unfortunately, this is also true if one uses Bitcoin to exchange for fiat currency. Bitcoin is not immune from State or Federal laws regulating the flow of money, and agents can track bitcoin transfers over the blockchain.…